On Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 the District swim team will travel to Penn State McCoy Natatorium to compete in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) District six swimming championships. The District team consists of 21 swimmers.
The girls attending districts includes: senior Sofia Hallinan, juniors Adalynn Bopp, Addison Fox, Abigail Harkins, Lana Luke and Graycie Price, sophomores Vida Blanco- Peterman, Andie Kephart, Ella Heverly, Addison Mitchell and Lucy Weyant, freshman Abigail Chverchko.
The boys attending districts are: juniors Nathan Beck, Seth Beere, Seth Lieb, Alex Pfahler, Zakariah Streightiff, Chase Van Edgom and Greg Wenzel, freshman Gabe Fleming and Zach Tremmel.
On day one of districts, the team will participate in the 200 yard medley relay, 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly and the 200 yard freestyle relay.
“The first day of districts will consist of two relays and four individual events,” head coach Brian Kephart said. “We will have a total of 13 swimmers competing that day. The second day of districts will consist of one relay and four individual events. We will have a total of 12 swimmers competing that day. Some are the same swimmers that will have competed the day before, and some will be new on Saturday.”
Eight swimmers will swim in the 200 yard medley relay, four girls and four boys. The medley relay consists of four swimmers swimming 50 yards of backstroke, 50 yards of breaststroke, 50 yards of butterfly and 50 yards of freestyle.
After the relay, eight swimmers will compete in the 50 yard freestyle and two will compete in the 100 yard butterfly.
Heverly, being the only female swimmer to compete in the 100 yard butterfly, is very confident.
“I am most confident in my 100 fly, because I have been working on it a lot in practice and it is one of my main events that I race most often,” Heverly said.
On day two of districts, the team will swim the 100 yard freestyle, 500 yard freestyle, 400 yard freestyle relay.
Five swimmers will compete in the 100 yard freestyle and Heverly will compete in the 500 yard freestyle.
“Leading up to district we have focused on race preparation, conditioning and proper rest,” Kephart said. “We do a two week, slow decay tamper to get ready for the two day event. That means we reduce yardage, increase speed and allow for extra rest between sets. This ensures swimmers are at their peak performance and ready for good time drops and hopefully high place finishes.”
The coaches have not only focused on the physical side, but also the mental side and setting goals.
“We communicate a lot with our swimmers,” Kephart said. “We talk out scenarios. We address concerns and talk about ways to overcome them. We also did individual goals sheets this year for our district team. We did a goal sheet for week one and week two. To finish off, we will have each swimmer complete a goal sheet for the days of the event. I think this has been helpful and encouraging. It gives each swimmer a couple things to focus on during taper. It has also provided a way for each swimmer to measure their success.”
Last year, 15 swimmers attended Districts.
“This year will be different because we have different swimmers,” Kephart said. “They have their own strengths and weaknesses, different from last year’s swimmers. It will be neat to see what this team can do and how they can make their mark on this championship meet.”
For some swimmers, this is their first time attending districts.
“This is my first year going to districts,” Beck said. “I’m excited to experience what a big district meet is like.”
Heverly encourages swimmers to focus on the movement and enjoy this meet.
“I would give the advice of experiencing it in the moment and have fun as a team, because you all accomplished the same goal of reaching this point in the season,” Heverly said.
